There was nothing.
No sound, no light, no warmth — not even the faintest whisper of existence. Just darkness, endless and absolute.
Luca drifted through it, though even "drifting" felt meaningless here. There was no sense of direction, no ground beneath him, no air around him. He couldn't feel his body — couldn't see, hear, or smell anything. Only his thoughts remained, faint and fragile, echoing into a void that refused to answer.
W–where am I?
The moment the question crossed his mind, something stirred.
A faint shimmer broke through the dark — thin as a thread, trembling as if afraid to exist. Then it widened, spilling soft light that reached him like the first dawn after an eternity of night.
And from within that light came a voice.
"H–hey? Are you okay?"
It was gentle, unsure, yet strangely soothing. The kind of voice that shouldn't belong in a place like this.
"Where are we?" the same voice asked again, this time closer.
